Across the VA's system in our state, the wait times are entirely too long on average.

The swipe fee reform law that Congress enacted in 2010 was a huge step forward in bringing transparency, competition, and choice to a debit card system that had been rigged by Visa, MasterCard, and the banks.

If the Department of Education is serious about fighting for students and protecting taxpayers, a full ban of mandatory arbitration clauses is a no-brainer.

In July of 2006, I visited the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was important for me to see Guantanamo firsthand and to meet the military personnel who are doing such a great job for our country.

Reducing and removing greenhouse gas emissions spares our planet from the well-documented degradation that we are witnessing on a global basis.

Until we make campaigns affordable, then we're going to have too many members of Congress out rattling the cup with special interest groups.

DACA, to me personally, and the DREAM Act are very personal and mean an awful lot.

Osama bin Laden is gone. The war in Iraq is over. Afghanistan is coming to a close.

America wins when the voiceless have a seat at the table, when the vulnerable are protected, and when working families have the same political clout as the wealthy.

There is no question that tobacco is addictive and that tobacco kills.

Sunlight is better than secrecy when it comes to making laws.

Social Security is the most important social program in America.

When I hear my friend John Boehner say that we have the best health care in the world, I don't dispute it for a moment. If I were sick, this is the country I want to be in, with these doctors, these hospitals, and these medical professionals.

We all join the President in applauding the sacrifices made by our brave men and women in uniform. But we must continue to provide them the tools they need to accomplish the difficult tasks they face.

Borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar we spend for missiles or food stamps is unsustainable. And being indebted for generations to China and OPEC does not make American a stronger nation.

We need to provide support to those that are fighting ISIS. And we can provide that support: logistically, training, intelligence, air cover. There are many things we have already accomplished successfully. But the notion of sending in rotational troops, as we saw in Iraq in the past, and in Afghanistan, I think we have learned our lesson.

There are only two honest ways to reduce our debt: cut spending or raise revenues.

If we're going to have tax cuts, let's focus on those in lower and middle income groups. Make sure that they get the breaks they need to continue to try to provide for their families.

'Stand your ground' laws based on the ALEC model have had harmful consequences and need to be reconsidered.

God is not a franchise of the Republican Party.

Our soldiers deserve better. They need a plan for success. They need an administration that is honest about the costs of war, human and otherwise, and they need full accountability and oversight on Capitol Hill.

The fact is I tried for years to work with the financial industry on reasonable swipe fee reform, but the industry wouldn't have it.

You would think that, at this point, with records being kept and the vast amount of knowledge on these drugs, the pharmacists could wave off prescriptions that are dangerous to customers.

It simply isn't fair for senators to cut to the front of the line when seniors around the country have been forced to wait for hours to get a flu shot.

Unfortunately the Republican tax cut will deny important revenues to many states facing their own deficits. This will create greater pressure for higher state and local taxes.

It is unacceptable that disabled veterans in Illinois rank at the bottom of the list when it comes to disability pay. We owe our disabled veterans more than speeches, parades and monuments.

Certain classes of weapons that are strictly military and have no useful purpose in sport, hunting, or self-defense should not be legally sold.

The for-profit college industry is clearly the single-heaviest subsidized business in America. More than any defense contractor or any farm operation... So many of them are a horrible waste of students' time and of taxpayer dollars.

We've had enough with loopholes in our gun laws that allow dangerous people to get their hands on guns.

Credit card companies and banks usually aren't shy when they're trying to sell you something. Heck, Wells Fargo didn't even bother to ask consumers before signing them up for as many as two million checking and credit card accounts.

Instead of incentivizing quick, short-term decisions, the federal government should be asking the tough questions when governments turn over publicly funded transportation assets to for-profit operators.

We can't do much about ensuring that the homeland is safe if our local police and sheriffs' departments don't have the personnel they need to keep our streets and neighborhoods secure.

There is no room for legal hair-splitting when it comes to the humane treatment of detainees - not in a nation founded on the rule of law and respect for human rights.

If we do nothing, as the Republicans suggest, we're going to see health care costs reach a point where small businesses can't afford it and families can't afford it. We're going to see people turned down from pre-existing conditions. We're going to find the Medicare doughnut hole - a gap in coverage that's going to hurt a lot of seniors.

You know, the purpose of reconciliation is to avoid the filibuster. The filibuster is an effort to talk something to death.

These are men and women who are willing to risk their lives in defense of their country. And the fact that their orientation - sexual orientation's been held against them is a blot on our nation's reputation.

Those of us who believe in God and those of us who have dedicated our lives to helping others in the name of God don't want to take a second seat to anyone who is suggesting that one word out of the platform means that the Democrats across America are godless.

We happen to believe that emissions going into the atmosphere are not good for us as humans or Mother Earth.

Everyone, regardless of the mode of expression, has a constitutionally protected right to free speech. But when it comes to freedom of the press, I believe we must define a journalist and the constitutional and statutory protections those journalists should receive.

A journalist gathers information for a media outlet that disseminates the information through a broadly defined 'medium' - including newspaper, nonfiction book, wire service, magazine, news Web site, television, radio or motion picture - for public use. This broad definition covers every form of legitimate journalism.

As a public official, when I take a position, I stand up to explain and defend it. I file annual financial disclosures, campaign finance reports, and have to face the scrutiny of public opinion.

We have to really appeal to that sensible center.

Chairing any Appropriations subcommittee is both a great honor and weighty responsibility.

American businesses and consumers deserve a debit card system with competition, transparency, and reasonable fees.

There is no question that President Barack Obama should be commended for the successful removal of Assad's ghastly chemical weapons stockpile. But it hasn't been enough.

Before I was elected to Congress, I worked in a courtroom. For years, I defended doctors and hospitals, and for years, I sued them on behalf of people who were victims of medical malpractice.

There is no question that the federal government sometimes overdoes it in issuing rules and regulations.

I stood respectfully as Ronald Reagan was sworn in to his second term though I disagreed with him on many issues. I stood as well for the inauguration of George W. Bush's second term though I thought his war in Iraq was a tragic mistake.

Since 2000, I have proposed changing the Constitution so that our popular vote decides the presidency.

We've had enough with the gun shows where you can buy from private sellers with no FBI background check.